Kingsmills school closure 'will break up rural community'

The pupils of Kingsmills Primary School are giving the proposed closure the thumbs down

Closing the primary school in Kingsmills would mean "losing the heart of the community" in the rural area, parents have warned.

The Education Authority (EA) plans to shut the school in County Armagh in August due to the falling number of pupils and a rising financial deficit.

Only three of more than 120 responses to an initial consultation on the school's future favoured closure.

A further consultation is now being carried out.

There has been a school in Kingsmills for 150 years and the primary has been on its current site since 1958.

Parent Liz Birch has two boys at the school and said it was a vital part of an area that had "suffered tremendously throughout the Troubles".

She said it worked closely with a Catholic primary in nearby Whitecross as part of a shared education programme, which was important for "the future of our children".

"If the school closes and children are sent elsewhere it breaks up the rural communities," she added.

Falling numbers

The Education Authority told BBC News NI that as the proposal was subject to the Department of Education's two-month consultation period it would be inappropriate to comment further.

The authority previously said that there were too many small and "unsustainable" rural schools in Northern Ireland.

But a recent study from Queen's University Belfast said that small schools were as important to, and as influential in, rural communities as the local church.

It also said they had many strengths, including a strong relationship with the local community and low pupil-to-teacher ratios.

But many are facing challenges such as falling pupil numbers and rising financial deficits.

The number of pupils at Kingsmills Primary School fell to 32 in 2021-22 from 54 a decade earlier.

Its financial deficit rose to £50,000 in 2021-22.

'Worried and anxious'

Joyce Holmes has three boys at Kingsmills Primary School and her daughter is a former pupil.

She said they would be "severely affected by the closure of the school".

"My children are not just numbers - they are individual people who deserve the high level of education that they have received within Kingsmills Primary School," she added.

Joyce Holmes says her children would be severely affected by the closure

Ms Holmes said all of them had thrived at the school after moving from a larger setting a number of years ago.

"The children are worried and anxious about their future and that of their teachers as they are family to them.

"You really would lose the heart of the rural community if Kingsmills closes."

Rebekah Riddle has three children at the school in primaries two, three and six.

She said she chose Kingsmills for them as it is a small country school.

"My son in P3 has Autism Spectrum Disorder and he is such a well behaved child but he struggles with learning and communication," she said.

"Kingsmills has been fantastic for him and he is included in everything.

"If Kingsmills school closes I fear he will get lost in a bigger class in another school. The smaller numbers make it so much better."

'Healing divisions'

The nearest controlled primary schools in the area are at least four miles (6.5km) away.

The school's headteacher says its closure would leave the community devastated

Gemma Harrison, the headteacher of the school, said that Kingsmills had been "an integral part of the community for many generations".

"The Kingsmills area has two main components at its heart: the school and the church," she said.

"We have always had strong links and connections with them, we work closely together and support each other in any way we can."

Mrs Harrison also said that the area had suffered during the Troubles and work between schools there was vital "in helping heal the divisions of the past".

"The Kingsmills area was impacted significantly by the legacy of the Troubles and the school has been playing a prominent role, through shared education activities in developing better community relations amongst younger people," she said.

The latest consultation on the plan to close Kingsmills Primary School concludes on Monday.

It will then be up to the permanent secretary at the Department of Education or a future education minister to decide on the school's future.